7.11.1 Overview

7.11.1.1Section 205AVEA enables the Department to request payment from any person who holds money for, or on account of, a debtor. The request is effected by the issue of a payment notice to this 'person', which includes an employer, financial institution, Australian Taxation Office, etc. A copy of the notice must also be sent to the debtor concerned.

7.11.1.2 — Payment notice action is a simple and cost-effective method of intercepting money owned by the debtor, however, it should only be considered where the debtor is not in receipt of a DVA payment or will not negotiate a reasonable settlement of the debt.

7.11.1.3 — If a review of the overpayment assessment is pending, payment notice recovery action should not be considered until the outcome of the appeal is known, and a further request to repay has been issued.

7.11.1.4 — Unless Commission has made a determination that interest is not to be payable, before a payment notice is issued, the penalty interest and administrative charge should be added to the amount of the overpayment and specified as a total amount in the payment notice. A payment notice may only be signed by a person with the appropriate delegation. Please refer to the delegation powers and functions of the Repatriation Commission contained on the DiVA intranet site.

7.11.1.5 — If the debtor finalises his/her debt or alternative repayment arrangements are made with the debtor after a payment notice has been served, an advice should be sent to the third party stating that the payment notice is revoked. A copy of this advice must be sent to the debtor, with a covering letter outlining the new repayment arrangements. In this letter, the debtor should be advised that if he/she defaults on the new arrangement, payment notice recovery action will commence without further notice.

7.11.1.6 — If the original payment notice needs to be amended, a new letter containing an amended notice, must be sent to the person or institution. The debtor must also be advised.

7.11.1.7 — Payment notices should be monitored to ensure that they are being met. Where a payment notice has not been satisfied, the person on whom the notice has been served should be contacted to determine whether they are capable of complying with the notice. If so, they should be reminded that compliance is expected.

About CLIK

The Consolidated Library of Information and Knowledge (CLIK) contains all the legislative, policy and reference material used by DVA staff in providing service to the clients of the Department of Veterans' Affairs.

Rehabilitation

Disclaimer

Information provided on this website is for general information and on the understanding that the Australian Government is not providing professional advice on a particular matter.

While we make every effort to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date we accept no responsibility whether expressed or implied for the accuracy, currency and completeness of the information.

Before relying on the material you should independently check its relevance for your purposes, and obtain any appropriate professional advice.

For reasons of succinctness and presentation, the information provided on this website may be in the form of summaries and generalisations, and may omit detail that could be significant in a particular context, or to particular persons.

Important legislative change

Please be aware that Parliament has recently passed a new Act that will replace the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 (SRCA) for current and former members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with conditions linked to service prior to 1 July 2004.

The new Act, titled the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988 (DRCA), will have the same eligibility requirements and provide the same benefits for current and former members of the ADF with compensation coverage under the SRCA. The DRCA will also apply to new claims the Department receives from current and former ADF members with injuries, diseases, deaths, losses or damages resulting from ADF employment prior to 1 July 2004.

The DRCA commenced operation on 12 October 2017.

As a result of this change, the Department is updating its published information, including hardcopy and website content, including CLIK. While this process is well underway, it will take some time before all changes are complete. In the meantime, references within CLIK to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 or SRCA should now generally be understood to be references to the new DRCA Act (with the exception of intended historical references to SRCA). It is important to note that the same provision references (i.e., sections, subsections and paragraphs) from the SRCA have been retained in the DRCA.

Again, while the Department makes every effort to ensure that the information on this site is accurate and up to date and all necessary changes will be made as soon as practicable, the above disclaimer notice is of particular importance to those members whose circumstances may be affected by this legislative change. We appreciate your patience during this change process.